


The Avatar's Love

by NedrynWrites



Series: Fire and Water [1]
Category: Dragon Quest Series, Dragon Quest XI
Genre: Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, Avatar Hero | Luminary (Dragon Quest XI), Dragon Quest XI Act II Spoilers, Established Relationship, Fluff, Hero | Luminary is Named Eleven | El (Dragon Quest XI), M/M, Marriage Proposal, Mute Hero | Luminary (Dragon Quest XI), Selectively Mute Hero | Luminary (Dragon Quest XI), Waterbender Camus | Erik (Dragon Quest XI)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-27 20:52:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19797565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NedrynWrites/pseuds/NedrynWrites
Summary: Erik shot a nervous glance at the door when he heard someone walking down the hallway.  He “accidentally” left his shoes wedged in the frame, so it would take some struggling to get the door open.He felt guilty for being so cagey, but he couldn’t risk Eleven seeing it now.  It was almost done.Ten years after meeting the Avatar, Erik has a question he wants to ask.





	The Avatar's Love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [omgitsaddyc](https://archiveofourown.org/users/omgitsaddyc/gifts).



> Eleven is selectively mute and uses sign language in certain situations. He is able to speak with people he trusts completely one-on-one (think Link in Breath of the Wild), though usually at low volume. 
> 
> Rated Teen for several swears

The door to Eleven and Erik’s shared room opened with a creak. They really needed to get that fixed. 

Erik, seated at the desk, shoved something under his arm. His face was carefully blank, almost like he wanted Eleven to know he was up to something. Or maybe Eleven could read him too well for him to ever be able to hide anything. 

“Ribbon?” Eleven murmured. “Am I finally rubbing off on you?” 

“Oh, I’d  _ love _ for you to rub me off,” Erik said. 

Eleven snorted. Erik was deflecting. Eleven knew he was deflecting. But still- 

He found his eyes tracing down Erik’s body. He was wearing a coat, mostly form-fitting other than those ridiculous puffed sleeves, over a tunic with a high neckline. He was much more bundled up than he usually was, though still not nearly enough for a normal person visiting the Northern Water Tribe. 

Eleven shifted. “Our friends are waitin’ for us,” he said reluctantly. 

Mia, especially. Erik hadn’t seen her in months, but with the war finally over, he could head home again. Eleven knew how much being apart was hurting him. 

“Later, then?” Erik asked with a smirk. 

Eleven nodded. A little too eagerly, he knew. But he also knew that, under all Erik’s teasing, he  _ really _ liked being wanted so much. 

Erik tucked whatever it was he was working on into a drawer, not letting Eleven see, before standing to join him. They walked out, each with an arm slung around the other, Erik’s hand dipping just a bit too low on Eleven’s hip to be innocent. 

Eleven was worried about Erik. He kept sneaking off, and conversations he had with other people often cut short whenever Eleven walked into the room. He had been on edge for a few weeks, almost as much as when they first met as teenagers. 

Mia was acting off. Everyone was, in fact, like they all knew something Eleven didn’t. But Mia was going out of her way to avoid him. 

It hurt. She was a good friend, once he figured out how to listen for what she means rather than taking her words at face value. 

< I don’t know what’s wrong, > he signed to Jade. 

“I am sure she’ll tell you when she’s ready,” she said soothingly. She nodded to someone past Eleven’s shoulder. 

Erik, who had appeared on Eleven’s other side, gave a casual wave with the hand not dropping around the back of Eleven’s chair. 

“Everything okay?” he murmured in Eleven’s ear. 

Eleven nodded. There was no sense in worrying Erik over his sister acting slightly weirder than usual. Not with how fiercely protective he was over her. 

Eleven couldn’t blame him. From the moment Erik got caught with his hand in the Northern Water Tribe’s proverbial cookie jar, he was separated from her. The fact that he was a companion of the avatar allowed him back to her, all those years ago, but the five years they spent apart had all but destroyed him. 

“You sure?” Erik asked, hand making its way into Eleven’s hair. Eleven nodded, tilting his head into the touch. “All right. I was just coming by to say I’m gonna crash early. See you in a couple hours?” 

Eleven smiled and shrugged. With the promises from earlier still hanging in the air, he would likely follow as soon as he was done making the rounds. 

Erik rolled his eyes. “Night.” 

< Good night. > Eleven closed his eyes and tilted his chin up. 

He felt soft lips brush his forehead. He opened his eyes, pouting. 

“Later,” Erik mouthed with a wink, not bothering to be subtle in front of Jade. She had seen worse. She had seen so much worse. 

* * *

Erik shot a nervous glance at the door when he heard someone walking down the hallway. He “accidentally” left his shoes wedged in the frame, so it would take some struggling to get the door open. 

He felt guilty for being so cagey, but he couldn’t risk Eleven seeing it now. It was almost done. 

* * *

A few weeks later, their wardens - friends, rather - were more lenient than usual as a subtle gift to Eleven for his twenty-fifth birthday. And without the crew breathing down their necks, they managed to sneak away to watch a pro-bending match. 

The two of them, alongside Veronica, made a killer team back when they were playing, even with earth being Eleven’s worst element. They still loved watching the games, and slipped away to cheer on old rivals whenever the world didn’t need saving. 

Erik managed to score the two of them pretty incredible seats. Legally, and without pulling the “this is for the avatar” card, to Eleven’s amazement. Considering the way Erik clung to every yuan he got his hands on, Eleven felt… indescribably touched at the gesture. 

Not only that, but they were able to skirt the media circus that would inevitably pop up at the avatar’s presence as well. The tabloids were obsessed with his and Erik’s relationship, despite being together for six years. They were old news now, surely, though the magazines were shouting of a new affair, proposal, or heaven forbid  _ baby announcement  _ every other week. 

After the match was over, and their favorite team lost hilariously, Erik took Eleven to see the city. 

They found themselves in Avatar Korra Park, and used the darkness as well as the excessively large Avatar Erdrick statue as concealment. The fishing was good in the park, albeit illegal, and Erik always had a fishing rod stashed for when they wanted to go and be delinquents like they did when they were kids. 

“We’re getting too old for this,” Erik said, even as they ran, snickering, from the park officials. 

It was insanely late when they got to their old favorite restaurant. Ruby didn’t seem to mind - in fact, it looked like she was expecting them. 

Erik flipped through the menu, though he didn’t need to. Eleven was pretty sure Ruby was already working on his usual. In the low light of the restaurant, Eleven saw the exact moment Erik’s hands started to shake. 

Erik was avoiding his gaze. Eleven gently touched his hand, causing him to jump. 

< You okay? >

“I’m great,” Erik said, in a tone that implied he was far from it. He looked like he was about to throw up, actually. 

< Need to go home?

“No!” Erik yelped. Ruby, all the way in the kitchen, dropped something in surprise. It clattered to the floor. He sheepishly lowered his voice. “No, I’m fine. I promise.” 

< Are you sure? > Unlike a decade ago, Eleven could trust that Erik would tell him if something was wrong, even if it was minor. He had busted his ass to get past the prickly man’s walls. 

“Yeah. Uh,” Erik folded the menu and set it aside, “after this, can we go back to the arena? I think I might have left something out on the balcony.” 

Eleven frowned. < We didn’t go to the balcony. >

“El, angel, please,” Erik groaned. “You’re killing me.” 

Confusion pinched at Eleven’s face further still. 

* * *

Eleven followed Erik out the door to the balcony. It was nearing morning, and they had to pull some pretty major strings to get out there. 

Eleven still didn’t know why they were there. But that’s where Erik wanted to be, and he trusted him. 

Purples, oranges, and pinks were just bleeding into the horizon. It was still mostly dark, and lights from homes and businesses shimmered in a mirror of the stars above. Steam billowed from the factory district. 

It was quiet, so high up. They were the only ones out there. 

“Do you remember the first time we were here?” Erik asked, leaning against the railing, staring off into the sky. “Together, I mean.” 

“How could I forget?” Eleven murmured. 

Their team had just gotten further than they ever had in the tournament. They had a real chance of winning the thing. Veronica had run off to order the three of them a round of drinks, but Eleven needed to get somewhere quiet. So Erik had taken him to the balcony. 

It was there that Eleven had fumbled out a confession to his best friend of four years. It was there that they had fallen together, lips less meeting and more crashing. Eleven still wasn’t sure who it was that actually initiated that one. They had always been the kind of pair to jump together. 

“Eleven,” Erik said, startling him with the use of all three syllables, “I was, uh, I was wanting to give you your birthday present.” 

Eleven tilted his head as Erik dug through his inner coat pocket. Was the evening not already enough? Erik was going to make him feel guilty about how he had handled Erik’s twenty-fifth - though they had still been at war, then. 

“I… I know it’s kinda old fashioned,” Erik stammered. “But I… fuck, I had a speech prepared, oh man…” 

Erik pulled something out of his pocket. He hid his shaking fist behind his back. 

“I know it was always more of a thing for arranged m-” Erik choked on the word. “Um. I. In the Northern Water Tribe-” 

Eleven felt his heart rate pick up. He might have been slow on the uptake, but he wasn’t completely daft. 

“W-well, the South too, though they kinda lost that tradition a couple centuries ago, during the Hundred Year War. Oh bleeding hog monkeys, I didn’t mean to make this a history lesson, my point is-” 

With his free hand, Erik reached out and took Eleven’s. “Eleven, I love you.” 

“I love you, too,” Eleven said. It was a reflex at this point. He didn’t really mean to interrupt. 

“I… thanks,” Erik mumbled. Eleven started to snicker. “Shut… shut up, El.” 

Eleven barely managed to stop himself from laughing further, biting his lip to contain his amusement. There was nothing he could do to stop the grin splitting his face. 

Erik took a shaky breath. He still looked a bit green in the face, but Eleven making fun of him seemed to have calmed his nerves somewhat. 

“You’re…  _ it, _ for me. And whatever you decide, nothing will change that. But you told me, once, that you wanted to be together for the rest of our lives-” 

“I said forever, actually.” 

“Yeah, but that’s cheesy and physically impossible, so I’m not gonna say that. I’m the logical one, remember?” 

Eleven snorted. “I suppose one of us ‘as to be.” 

“Right… so…” Erik exhaled all the way, and held his lungs empty for a moment. 

Then, with a slow inhale, he knelt, still holding Eleven’s hand. 

“E-El, I… Eleven.” 

“Stop tryin’ to sound formal; it doesn’t suit you.” 

“You’re an ass.” 

“That’s better.” 

Erik let out an amused huff, but the hand in Eleven’s didn’t stop shaking. Eleven gave his fingers an encouraging squeeze. 

“Elli, I want to be with you for as long as you’ll have me.” 

“I said ‘forever,’” Eleven mumbled. Now  _ his _ hands were shaking. 

“Well in that case,” Erik said, finally bringing his other hand around. In the glow of the building’s golden lights, Eleven could just make out lavender ribbon hanging from his hand. “You wanna,” his voice cracked, “make it official?” 

His hand slowly unfurled. The carving on the necklace was beautiful. A winged blade piercing from a crescent moon, into a four-point star. 

Every avatar led a horribly dangerous life. That was just how the world worked. They would have to fight down at least one mighty villain in their lives. Sometimes, they didn’t live to finish it. That’s why Eleven was left to face his predecessor’s foe. He had been just a child. 

This symbol was not a reminder of what Eleven had to face, not exactly. It was what  _ they  _ did, together. More specifically, how they survived. 

The carving got wobbly with Eleven’s vision. 

“‘Lev?” 

Eleven nodded, eyes squeezing shut. He felt a tear slip out. 

“That a… yes?” 

He kept nodding, would keep nodding all night if that’s what it took for Erik to get it. 

“You sure?” 

“Erik,” was Eleven’s whispered protest, before he finally dropped to a kneel as well, into Erik’s arms. “ _ Yes. _ ” 

“Just makin’ sure,” Erik grumbled. Eleven felt Erik’s chest rise and fall, a few false starts. “Can I… can I put it on you?” 

“Mhm.” 

Erik brushed Eleven’s hair away from the back of his neck. With wobbling fingers, he threaded it along Eleven’s throat, and latched it, minding the baby hairs so it wouldn't pinch. 

It was an incredibly soft fabric. It would be comfortable to wear all the time, not that Eleven would have ever taken if off even if it wasn’t. 

Erik tilted Eleven’s chin up to look at his new fiancé, wearing his necklace. 

“Uh, shit.” Erik quickly unclasped it. “Hang on.” 

“Hm?” 

“I… I put it on backwards.” 

**Author's Note:**

> It's been five days since the last addition to the luminerik tag on Tumblr, and that made me mad, so I asked for a prompt. Then I completely abandoned it and wrote an au of a series omgitsaddyc isn't even familiar with! Whoops! I hope it was at least cheesy enough to make up for it. 
> 
> As always, if you liked it, please drop a kudos, or a comment if you're feeling brave! Even a smiley face to let me know you enjoyed it would make me very happy!
> 
> [Tumblr](https://nedrynwrites.tumblr.com/)  
> Feel free to comment/message me if you have questions! I love talking to you!  
> 


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